Recently I've bought a used car from a lady in Jerrabomberra. It's a BMW 320i 2009. The car was registered under her company name.
When I inspected the car, she said the car had been equipped with a CD stacker. I believed her and did not test that. After I bought the car, I tried to load CDs into the CD stacker and could not do it.
I texted her to ask about that: "Hi, R I don't know how to load CDs into the CD stacker. The manual says the stacker is in the luggage area but I couldn't find it. How did you do it? Thanks."
She replied to me: "Hey! I never used it, but you feed them into the dash. I think you push 1, load cd. Then push 2, and load CD and so on". I still keep the SMS on my phone as evidence.
I tried again, but failed to load CDs in, so I called her. On the phone, she once again confirmed that the CD stacker was a standard feature of this BMW. Unfortunately I did not record this conversation.
Finally, after consulting with a BMW dealer, it turned out that the car did not have a CD stacker. They quoted me $2,500 to install it.
The lady refused to pay for that. She said she was not liable because she did not advertise it on the website. However, I know that in commercial law, verbal advertising counts. Therefore she has to be responsible for what she told me at the car inspection.
I brought the case to NCAT, but at the hearing, they dismissed my application because that was a private sale, not a car dealer sale. They told me that I had to lodge it at civil court.
Now the only proof that I have is the SMS between me and her. I am wondering if the SMS is strong enough to support me. It's highly appreciated if anybody who had the same experience or know about commercial law or Australian Consumer Law could give me some advice. I also want to know what the procedure is and the cost to apply this case to the local civil court. Thank you very much.
When I inspected the car, she said the car had been equipped with a CD stacker. I believed her and did not test that. After I bought the car, I tried to load CDs into the CD stacker and could not do it.
I texted her to ask about that: "Hi, R I don't know how to load CDs into the CD stacker. The manual says the stacker is in the luggage area but I couldn't find it. How did you do it? Thanks."
She replied to me: "Hey! I never used it, but you feed them into the dash. I think you push 1, load cd. Then push 2, and load CD and so on". I still keep the SMS on my phone as evidence.
I tried again, but failed to load CDs in, so I called her. On the phone, she once again confirmed that the CD stacker was a standard feature of this BMW. Unfortunately I did not record this conversation.
Finally, after consulting with a BMW dealer, it turned out that the car did not have a CD stacker. They quoted me $2,500 to install it.
The lady refused to pay for that. She said she was not liable because she did not advertise it on the website. However, I know that in commercial law, verbal advertising counts. Therefore she has to be responsible for what she told me at the car inspection.
I brought the case to NCAT, but at the hearing, they dismissed my application because that was a private sale, not a car dealer sale. They told me that I had to lodge it at civil court.
Now the only proof that I have is the SMS between me and her. I am wondering if the SMS is strong enough to support me. It's highly appreciated if anybody who had the same experience or know about commercial law or Australian Consumer Law could give me some advice. I also want to know what the procedure is and the cost to apply this case to the local civil court. Thank you very much.
